Blog
Yesterday, the sole company backing the proposed Pebble mine, Northern Dynasty Minerals, filed its 2018 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC is responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets.
Steve and Jenn Kurian now have three businesses working to get sustainable, delicious Bristol Bay into restaurants, backyard BBQs and plates across the U.S. Better yet, they use a portion of their proceeds to help in the fight against Pebble mine. Today, as their Wildly Devoted Dinner Boxes launch making Bristol Bay sockeye and other delicious Alaskan seafood available to action-oriented seafood lovers nationwide, we wanted to tell you a little bit about the duo as part of our Bristol Bay Ambassadors program.
Last Friday, as the public comment period on Pebble’s first federal permits opened, Dr. Cameron Wobus presented eye-opening findings from a Pebble Mine tailings dam failure analysis that have commercial fishermen, and many others, concerned about potential impacts of Pebble’s plan.
While this has an obvious impact to fisheries (salmon can’t spawn if their headwaters streams are wiped out), there are less obvious - but extremely severe - risks as well, including metals that will be introduced through mining operations to the waters. Copper is one such metal.
The DEIS says copper will be present at levels above water quality standards for 80 miles (Koktuli to the Mulchatna). That is a major concern. Here’s why:
What’s considered to be the most important document of the permitting project, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, for the proposed Pebble mine was released last week. In it, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) fails to consider many pertinent issues and potential impacts from the project, largely ignores the established science regarding the mine, and overlooks many pertinent concerns with Pebble’s proposal.
There are many aspects to be concerned about when it comes to the proposed Pebble mine. Because Bristol Bay’s world-class salmon fisheries are so important to the region, the State of Alaska, and for the global supply of salmon, many of the concerns are related to water and the potential water quality contamination that the mine will generate.
For us Alaskans who do not want to see the proposed Pebble mine move forward in Bristol Bay, there will be many times we’ll need to step up this year to stop the project from advancing. The first of these opportunities is tomorrow. After following this issue for many years, I’ve never before felt a greater sense of urgency for standing up against Pebble.
